Guns Kill People
Lately Little Carol and I have been working together shipping boxes out of Area 51. I bounce back and forth like a ping pong ball from the front end of the line in assembly to the back end of the line in Button Up depending on what our daily throughput is like. I enjoy it. Keeps things from getting too boring and stagnant. Both Little Carol and Okie Carol have been great to work with because they're both crazy old broads. I like crazy old broads. I prefer working alongside them over working with dingbat housewives.
From the conversations I've had with Little Carol, it's obvious her political views are firmly rooted in the extreme right-wing camp. At times she's a borderline conservative wingnut but I can forgive that. The two of us have colorful discussions most evenings as I am more of a centrist Democrat, however I have some fairly Republican-leaning views. For example I'm a supporter of gun rights and I am a huge supporter of the defense industry. So that gives Little Carol and I some common ground. Turns out she's an even bigger supporter of gun rights than I am. She's a long time NRA member that becomes quite animated and angry when people foolishly talk gun control around her. I get a kick out of seeing such a frail little old lady raise her voice and shake her finger in people's faces. Nobody expects that kind of a response coming from such a nice old woman. It's sweet.
The other night Little Carol and I were walking side by side talking gun stuff as we passed by Area 51's test racks. TC overheard us and he interrupted our conversation by blurting out, "Guns kill people." Before I could say anything Little Carol marched over to where TC was sitting in front of a test rack and started chewing him out. She said, "Everybody should be taught how to properly shoot guns and everybody should have one! My daddy taught me how to shoot a rifle when I was a little girl and I've been shooting my whole life!" TC sat there with a calm, cool expression on his face. He didn't smile or get angry. I think he blinked once or twice. Then he said, "Yes. But you DO know that guns kill people, right?"
Holy shit. Little Carol's frail, bony, arthritis ravaged finger was up in TC's grill and she was shouting at him. I agreed with everything she was saying. I mean, I own four rifles. Two are AK47 variants, one is a tricked-out SKS, and the other is a World War II Soviet bolt action rifle I fixed up. TC kept at her. He took a beating and replied, "Sure. Of course. You have to admit though that guns kill people." Little Carol got so frustrated she was red in the face and decided TC was too stupid to talk with any further. She walked away towards Button Up leaving me behind. I told TC that I agreed with Little Carol's point of view. He kinda pissed me off too. TC said, "Don't tell Carol, but I'm a gun owner. I was just having a little fun with her."
Sneaky.
From the conversations I've had with Little Carol, it's obvious her political views are firmly rooted in the extreme right-wing camp. At times she's a borderline conservative wingnut but I can forgive that. The two of us have colorful discussions most evenings as I am more of a centrist Democrat, however I have some fairly Republican-leaning views. For example I'm a supporter of gun rights and I am a huge supporter of the defense industry. So that gives Little Carol and I some common ground. Turns out she's an even bigger supporter of gun rights than I am. She's a long time NRA member that becomes quite animated and angry when people foolishly talk gun control around her. I get a kick out of seeing such a frail little old lady raise her voice and shake her finger in people's faces. Nobody expects that kind of a response coming from such a nice old woman. It's sweet.
The other night Little Carol and I were walking side by side talking gun stuff as we passed by Area 51's test racks. TC overheard us and he interrupted our conversation by blurting out, "Guns kill people." Before I could say anything Little Carol marched over to where TC was sitting in front of a test rack and started chewing him out. She said, "Everybody should be taught how to properly shoot guns and everybody should have one! My daddy taught me how to shoot a rifle when I was a little girl and I've been shooting my whole life!" TC sat there with a calm, cool expression on his face. He didn't smile or get angry. I think he blinked once or twice. Then he said, "Yes. But you DO know that guns kill people, right?"
Holy shit. Little Carol's frail, bony, arthritis ravaged finger was up in TC's grill and she was shouting at him. I agreed with everything she was saying. I mean, I own four rifles. Two are AK47 variants, one is a tricked-out SKS, and the other is a World War II Soviet bolt action rifle I fixed up. TC kept at her. He took a beating and replied, "Sure. Of course. You have to admit though that guns kill people." Little Carol got so frustrated she was red in the face and decided TC was too stupid to talk with any further. She walked away towards Button Up leaving me behind. I told TC that I agreed with Little Carol's point of view. He kinda pissed me off too. TC said, "Don't tell Carol, but I'm a gun owner. I was just having a little fun with her."
Sneaky.
posted by factory_peasant at 10:26 AM
8 Comments:
You mean currently you don't need a license to own a gun? Wow. That's crazy! Before they banned guns in Aus we needed a license in the same way you need a license to drive a car. Made sense to me.
Wad- what you did was sensible, not crazy. given the situation with your grandparents you made a prudent choice.
nascent- no you do not need a license to own firearms in the US. in most states, if you want to own a fully automatic weapon you can do so but you need to have a Class III FFL. that's a federal firearms license and in most states a Class III is difficult to obtain. for example here in California where the gun laws are particularly draconian it's nearly impossible to get a Class III FFL. in Oregon however, you can purchase a fully automatic weapon by paying for the cost plus a $200 fee.
currently here in California all you have to do when buying a rifle is go through a waiting period and then go pick it up. the weapon is registered to you and listed on a number of government agencies including the Department of Justice. during the waiting period the FBI does a background check on you to look for any 'red flags'. if you come up clean then you have no worries.
it used to be you could buy just about any kind of rifle as long as it wasn't select-fire (a switch on the lower receiver to go between fully automatic and semi-auto settings) same day. the same waiting period that has applied to handgun purchases now applies to rifles as well.
buying a handgun in California has become more and more of a hassle. in addition to the mandatory waiting period and background check, you have to take a course at a State of California authorized gun store or range. it's called the Basic Firearms Safety Ceritificate (BFSC). this costs about $20 and it's entirely useless. a retard could pass this test. really it's nothing more than a few multiple choice questions. once you've taken it, you may buy one handgun every other month or so if you wanted.
more anti-handgun legislation is on the way. there's talk of passing new laws in California which would also require a handgun purchaser to show up at a local police station for fingerprinting. this won't accomplish anything. because i knew in the near future i probably would not be able to buy and own a pistol i went out and bought two. i have a Ruger P94 9mm and a Walther P99 .40.
San Francisco voters recently passed a ridiculous measure which requires all handgun owners in the city proper to give them up soon, and forbids any new handgun ownership in the future. this will be challenged in the courts no doubt so who knows what the ultimate outcome will be. personally, i think this was pretty stupid.
I realise it's a sensitive issue over there, I'm not trying to start a flamefest or anything, just curious.
Why do you think it's stupid that people in the city shouldn't be allowed to have firearms? I mean, how useful is it really? I guess I'm just trying to understand why so many people feel they need to own what is essentially military weaponry.
Keep in mind I've never been to your part of the world and I don't trust mass media, so I really have no idea what it's actually like to live there. The only weapon I've ever owned was when I lived in Tassie in the countryside. My family had a single shot bolt action .22 we used to kill wallabies and rabbits with.
nascent-
first of all let me be clear here. i'm in a minority of gun owners that happens to enjoy shooting with military style weapons, as you put it. most people don't share my enthusiasm for them and they don't go out of their way to purchase them. the vast majority of people choose to buy less extreme hardware than i do.
the reason why i feel San Francisco's move was dumb is because it fails to address the real underlying issue- violent crime. individuals who use handguns while committing crimes against society will continue to use them regardless of the handgun ban.
the ban will deny law-abiding people the opportunity to own a firearm if they choose to do so for whatever end use they have in mind. one person may enjoy recreational shooting at the local target range while another person may actually want a gun in their residence for protection. with a ban like this all that goes out the window, nobody gets to have anything except for the dirtbags knocking over gas stations and robbing liquor stores.
meanwhile people who live in nearby towns will still have the ability to buy handguns.
what i am trying to say is, i see this as stupid on more than one level. the ban doesn't seem to accomplish much nor does it make any sense to me.
hey. i've never been to your country so i have no idea what it's like there. we're even. i've heard that parts of Northern California are almost identical to parts of Australia especially in the wine making regions. i would hazard a guess you would probably enjoy the San Francisco Bay Area if you were to visit here.
i just wanna bust tc's balls
for pissin off lil' carol.
tc j00 bastage! bwuahahahaha
you probably shaved a year off her life gg
<3
shit_foot
After hearing lil' carols flawless speech I doubt that my face was the first to have her finger in it. I used to have a friend that would sneak up and pounce on his cat while it was sleeping. He said it kept the cat young.
TC
Wad- i think i missed the real point of your question. as far as licensing of guns no it's not crazy, but the registration process seems to me to be very similar to getting a license.
nascent- wanted to mention one more thing to you too. people in the States are so sensitive about gun issues because many think of owning a gun as a guaranteed right rather than a priviledge.
my items of firearm goodness are secure.
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